You know that movie, the one
with the ring, and the lord, and the hobbits and whatnot? Well,
remember how they live in a pretty amazing place? Well, I've been
there! And funny side note about that. For the release of The
Hobbit they are officially re-naming Wellington to “The Middle of
Middle Earth”. Cool eh. Absolutely everything about New Zealand
was pretty amazing. I stood on a beach where the arctic winds had
churned the sea up so violently, that the entire beach was covered in
foam. I walked through lush green rainforests past crystal blue
lakes, rivers, and waterfalls that suddenly opened up into massive
(although receding) glaciers. I watched dolphins swim in bays back dropped by huge snow capped mountains. I wore my birthday suit
into the ocean. I panned for gold and actually found some. I even
watched baby seals climb up a stream in the forest and play in a pool
at the base of a beautiful waterfall. The people were almost all
nice. If there was a bare spot of land it was almost always green.
There are a plenty of ski resorts and good surf breaks that could
easily both be done in one day. I may be rethinking my future, and
it may involve this place with a small flightless bird called a Kiwi!
But as for now, the time has come to leave. Sad face emoticon.
But, a part of me will always be in New Zealand, well, my clothes
anyway. I left them in the laundry room which was then locked at the
last place I stayed. No one around to unlock it at 4am. So, it's
just the clothes I was wearing that day now! Actually, I've got new
clothes now, for pretty dirt cheap, but you'll have to tune in next
time to find out where I got them!
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| This foamy beach was one of the strangest things I have ever seen. |
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| Everything in NZ is big. The vastness of the glacier that used to be right here was no exception. |
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| The black riders didn't read the sign. (hehe, nerdy LOTR reference) |
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| Danger, no stopping to take pictures of boulders rolling down hill onto your head. |
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| Headed to the Fox Glacier. 50 years ago, it was about 300 yards behind this. |
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| Lots of ice. |
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| Sophie, Chris, Sam, Dallon. Glacier. |
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| Made a new park ranger buddy. |
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| Sam looking stexy (I just made that word up, style+sexy) in the hot pools after hiking. |
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| This thing is from Himalaya, don't remember what it's called. |
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| Those tiny specs on my finger tip, are the fruits of my 30 minute gold panning labors! Maybe 50 cents worth! Woowoo! |
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| Kaikoura Bay. |
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| This guy was not pleased with my vicinity. |
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| North end. South Island. |
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| Trying to cook our last dinner, in the cold wet rain...again. |
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| Pup seals in the waterfall. This was REALLY cool. Better than the zoo! |
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| Baby seals. Waterfall. Me. |
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| Can you find them? |
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| The vans. |
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| Do not zoom in. Trust me. Just keeping with a little tradition here. |
Well, I'm not in NZ anymore, and in my current locale I'm half way through my travels with two more countries to go! Guesses for where I'm at now?
